YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A flat start gave way to a steady descent
that had the stock market positioned for its poorest performance in three
weeks, but some late buying helped stocks halve their losses.
Without any leadership or positive catalysts to help stocks extend
their multi-year highs, many participants opted to pare risk and pocket
profits. The effort gained momentum and had the S&P 500 down about 1%
before the decline steadied.
Natural resource plays were hit the hardest. Their drop came in
close connection with lower commodity prices. At their session lows both the Energy
sector and the Materials sector were flirting with losses of 2%. The stock
market's effort to trim losses late in the day helped them limit their losses
to 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.
Oil was under sharp pressure all session, such that the energy component
settled with a 1.9% loss at $105.40 per barrel. A bigger-than-expected build in
weekly oil inventory numbers reflected renewed concerns about softer demand.
The rest of the commodity complex was weak, too, such that the CRB Index fell
1.3% for its worst single-session slide in three weeks.
Financials were integral in the stock market's late upturn; no
other sector was able to fully overcome selling pressure and settle in positive
territory. Collectively, Financials scored a 0.4% gain.
Bank stocks were source of strength. Their resilience in the face
of broad market weakness resulted in a 0.9% gain for the KBW Bank Index.
Investment banking and brokerage outfit Goldman
Sachs (GS 126.36, +0.03) was able to work its way to the flat
line after wrestling with a sizable loss that came despite the firm's decision
to restructure its Board. The move is widely regarded as a bow to investors
amid negative publicity pertaining to the firm's culture.
Only a handful of earnings announcements were made ahead of the
open, but none of them had any significant influence over market sentiment.
Although the line-up for tomorrow will be limited, the latest numbers from Best Buy (BBY 26.62, -0.31) will be
posted ahead of the open.
The dollar attracted only modest buying interest today, but even
that faded so that the Dollar Index was up about 0.1% by day's end. The
Japanese yen seemed to benefit more from those who wanted safety; as of the
closing bell the dollar-yen exchange rate was down nearly 0.5% to 82.77 yen per
dollar. Also in the mix was a weakened sterling pound, which fell to a 0.4%
loss against the greenback after it had set a fractionally improved multi-month
high in the prior session. Its move lower followed news that the
The only dose of domestic data released today was the latest in
durable goods orders. Overall orders increased by 2.2% during February, but
that is actually a slower pace than the 2.8% increase that had been expected,
on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. Prior month orders data
were revised slightly higher to reflect a 3.6% decline. Excluding
transportation items, durable goods orders were up 1.6% in February. That is a
stronger clip than the 1.0% increase that had been generally expected among
economists polled by Briefing.com, but still relatively underwhelming when
compared to loftier estimates that were widely issued. Nonetheless, the latest
figure marks an improvement from the prior month decline of 3.0%.
Pronounced selling pressure against
commodities droped the CRB Index for a 1.3% loss, its
worst single-session slide in three weeks.
A sell-off minutes before floor trade opened pushed crude oil
deeper into negative territory. News that weekly inventories had a build of 7.1
million barrels when a build of 2.7 million barrels was anticipated did not
move crude significantly, although it did reflect concerns about demand. For
most of the day crude's price chopped around $105.00, but ultimately it settled
with a 1.9% loss at $105.40 per barrel.
Natural gas opened pit trade at $2.26 per MMBtu,
its session low, and spent the day inching higher. It broke into positive
territory about an hour before the close of pit trade, but could not sustain the
gain. Instead, the energy component closed its floor session with a 0.9% loss
at $2.28 per MMBtu.
Precious metals also began floor trade in the red, but extended
their losses as the dollar gained ground. Gold touched a session low of
$1654.00 per ounce and silver a session low of $31.76 per ounce minutes before
pit action closed, but they settled with a 1.6% loss at $1657.30 per ounce and
a 2.3% loss at $31.85 per ounce, respectively.
Advancing Sectors:
Financials +0.4%
Declining Sectors: Tech
-0.2%, Consumer Staples -0.2%, Health Care -0.3%, Utilities -0.8%, Consumer
Discretionary -0.9%, Telecom -1.0%, Industrials -1.0%, Energy -1.2%, Materials
-1.5%DJ30 -71.52 NASDAQ -15.39 NQ100 -0.4% R2K -0.7% SP400 -0.6% SP500 -6.98
NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 887/1.75 bln/1636 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1122/817 mln/1901